You always have that one friend in your group that takes it too far. The guy who orders the extra drink kills the running joke and orders a big meal when you have a light bite and expects to split the bill. Generally, this is the same person but, in some circumstances, it is different people. FYI if you don’t recognise anyone in this group, it may be you.
In music, you occasionally get these same people who take it too far. When it happens in the punk scene then things can get extreme, where the minimum is where the venue is trashed, and where the maximum is bodily fluids are left on stage. This one’s going to be wild. This week The Beat Marches On to the 28th June 1993 when GG Allin dies of a heroin overdose.
Before I get into this story, I will forewarn the readers that there are a lot of disturbing actions including defecation, abuse, self-mutilation and harm.
GG Allin’s plan was always to live fast and die young. He claimed to wanted to kill himself on stage as his swansong, but it never happened. He didn’t want to be a cliché but died in the most clichéd way imaginable, through an overdose.
Born in a little town in New Hampshire, Allin was named initially Jesus Christ by his devout Christian father. It was shortened to GG as his brother and future bandmate Merle Jr struggled to pronounce his name.
For the first ten years of the brother’s life, they lived in a log cabin with no heat or running water or, electricity. From accounts, the cabin was tiny and barely fit one person let alone a family. After a decade their mother had enough and took the kids and left.
The first signs of GG’s troublesome ways were in high school when he acted out in classes and dressed like his glam rock heroes and often in drag. It was in high school that he formed his first band who mostly performed covers to start but when the punk movement gained traction Allin saw the light.
Allin loved the way punk brought the simplistic rock and roll back. He loved the non-corporate values and the anarchic-driven chaos that the genre provided and when he started playing and watching punk shows, he had found his home.
The first few bands that GG was involved with were very traditional with what you would associate with a live show. Playing loud and fast and playing 20 songs in 20 minutes. Initially, he started as a drummer and backing vocals, but as the 1970s turned into the 1980s then he made his way to the front of the stage.
In 1980 the singer was in a band called The Jabbers and this band was as close as he got to the mainstream. They had a release from a moderately big independent label; however, it didn’t sell well. Many think from this moment is when his fuck the system values and anarchic way of life started.
Lyrically, the album was if anything, definitely a foresight into what Allin would become. Songs the likes of Bored to Death, Pussy Summit Meeting, and Assface would be a little league to the antics GG would get up to.
In 1984 The Jabbers broke up due to Allin starting to be too chaotic, changing songs mid-set, getting increasingly violent and just being an asshole (according to bandmembers) The next few years GG didn’t have a permanent band according to his brother in an interview with Louder Sound, he toured the country by jumping on a coach to the next town/city and telling the band that was playing to play his songs. He would do this for a couple of days then go on to the next town. Some of these bands were called The Toilet Rockers, The Aids Brigade, The Holy Men, The Texas Nazis, Cedar Street Sluts and the Scumfucs.
It was during this unique way of touring that Allin would up his on-stage presence. Starting fights with the audience, the singer himself would end up a bloody mess. He takes it further by drinking his blood on stage to freak out the audience.
Then the next year he took it too far by purposely taking some laxatives, too early by some reports, and defecating on stage. He would do this in Illinois in front of only about 120 people, most of which cleared out due to the smell. Thinking the stunt was a success GG carried on dropping faeces at many other shows. To freak out the patrons even more, because taking a dump on stage wasn’t shocking enough, he started throwing the faeces into the crowd and even in some instances eating it.
The reputation of Allin was starting to grow as his stage antics were reported on the local news in America. He caused outrage among parents, but their kids were amazed by the extremes he would go to on stage. In an interview, he said he knew of many clubs that had to be closed due to the performances but he had a reputation to uphold and never felt any sympathy for the club owners.
Between the years of 1985-89, Allin was arrested 52 times for his lewd acts. It wasn’t just the pooping, but the violence and many women had accused him of acting inappropriately towards them. The worst of which was when during a sexual encounter a woman asked him to be rough and he was too rough. He was jailed for 15 months.
While in prison Allin wrote a manifesto, an imprint of everything he stood for. In the pamphlet (it is only two and a half pages long) he declared himself as the last true rock and roller and created Elvis as well as saying he is God, Jesus Christ, and the Devil rolled into one. The most credible thing in the manifesto is that he planned to kill himself on stage as his last hurrah.
The suicide attempt was something mentioned but never seriously, or so the hangers-on would think. Allin wanted to go out with a bang and didn’t want to live past his peak. The issue was for his fans at least, he didn’t set a date for when he was going to attempt this feat. Most thought it was going to be at Halloween time but no guarantee.
In 1991 GG was released from prison and went back on-stage, this time with a permanent band, The Murder Junkies, which consisted of Allin singing, his brother Merle Jr on bass, Chicken John on guitar and drummer Dino, who liked to drum naked. John didn’t last long but for a short time Dee Dee Ramone played a few rehearsals along with Bill Weber, but the Ramone connection didn’t last long.
Straight away the new band started to tour which meant Allin would break his parole restrictions, but he didn’t care. The band even made a country album, but it didn’t sell well due to the non-establishment ways of the singer. Being one to shock the public and a reputation to uphold he befriended serial killer John Wayne Gacy, sending letters to him and visiting whenever he was in town. Gacy even painted some artwork for one of the Murder Junkies albums.
The Murder Junkies would be the last band that GG Allin be a part of. The final gig occurred in Manhattan at a small club called the Gas Station. The frontman did his usual schtick of fighting and crapping on stage, but the police came and shut it down after two songs. The crowd then poured onto the street with the singer almost provoking a riot. Then he ran off to a friend’s house, named Johnny Puke, to do heroin. Not known as a junkie, normally he would take anything he would get his hands on, alcohol was his main vice. This was the last night anyone saw him alive.
The party awoke the next morning to Allin’s body lifeless on the floor. They called for an ambulance, but he was already dead. The last rock and roller had left the building.
There were strict instructions not to wash his body upon his death, so all the blood he was covered in, and other bodily fluids went straight into the coffin. As per his wishes, he was buried with a bottle of Jim Beam bourbon. He was buried in his home state of New Hampshire.
GG Allin did become an influence on modern culture. His brother Merle believes that the whole Jackass model was based on his antics. Faith No More, CKY, and even Hank Williams III have covered his songs among others. Towards the end of his life when the controversial talk show (Jerry Springer, Jane Whitney, etc) started to boom, he was a regular guest causing trouble.
The legacy left by Allin is definitely controversial, he was one of a kind and may not have done it the traditional way, did get a cult following. Although he is mostly remembered fondly we do have to remember that his lyrics were hate-inciting and purposely started fights with his own fans, GG took all of it to an extreme, too extreme and for that reason it probably hasn’t been replicated.
The Beat Marches On is a music blog written by Jimmy Whitehead. Jimmy has been blogging for six years specialising in Sports (especially American Football). If you want to follow Jimmy on Twitter: @Jimmy_W1987
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The websites used for research were:
GG Allin’s Demented Life And Death As Punk Rock’s Wild Man (allthatsinteresting.com)
The manifesto according to GG Allin can be found here: The GG Allin Menifesto : GG Allin : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
There is a plethora of videos dedicated to GG Allin on YouTube including a documentary by future director of The Joker, Todd Phillips.
If you want to request a story for The Beat Marches On blog, you can contact jwhiteheadjournalism@gmail.com. We cannot guarantee that the story will be published but will be considered